Could it be that the instincts that have driven you to procreate make having children enjoyable enough to justify being "knee-deep" in poop in your mind,

Yes, of course.

and you are portraying it as self-sacrifice just to look virtuous?

Meh. I could have made a much more convincing post to make myself look virtuous. Perhaps I should have. But I do want to encourage the reader to see childrearing as virtuous.

Actually, your argument seems suspiciously own-gene serving.

Well, I'm done having children - I'm hoping to induce other people to have children. Other people with genes somewhat similar to my own, you might say, and I won't protest.

When I wrote this post I realized that it had the potential flaw of appearing like I was primarily interested in bragging or complaining about my own decisions/situation. Your comment reveals to me that this flaw was more serious than I had thought. A better strategy might have been to write about friends of mine who have children and compare their lives with that of acquaintances without children. That way I could have gotten in the poop stuff without the annoying holier-than-thou effect. Thank you. [Edit: I removed the personal part for now.]